[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third_end]2018 FALL REUNION[/ezcol_1third_end]
Sophia Amoruso
Founder & CEO, Girlboss
Sophia Amoruso is the Founder and CEO of Girlboss, a digital-native brand and community redefining success for millennial women. Amoruso is a creative visionary, entrepreneur, and industry disruptor who has forged an unprecedented path in building modern brands. Named by Forbes as “Fashion’s New Phenom” and featured on the cover of their June 2016 “Self Made Women” issue, Amoruso has gone from one of the most prominent figures in retail to a cultural thought leader.
Amoruso is the author of New York Times 18-week best-seller #GIRLBOSS, which was originally published on May 6, 2014 and has sold over 600,000 copies worldwide to date. Part memoir and part business book with an edge, #GIRLBOSS provides insights on entrepreneurship and career advice.
In 2014, Amoruso launched The Girlboss Foundation, which awards financial grants of $15,000 to female entrepreneurs. To date, the Girlboss Foundation has awarded over $130,000 in grants to the next generation of entrepereurs.
In October 2015, Amoruso debuted her podcast, Girlboss Radio, which has grown to over 470,000 weekly downloads. In October 2016, Amoruso released her second book NASTY GALAXY, a highly graphic and visual book that binds together the collective spirit of the Nasty Gal brand, Amoruso’s personal brand, and the Girlboss ethos.
Netflix has since adapted #GIRLBOSS into a 13-episode scripted comedy series written by Kay Cannon, with Charlize Theron and Amoruso serving as Executive Producers. Girlboss premiered in April of 2017 to 95 million Netflix subscribers in 195 countries.
Amoruso released her third publication, The Girlboss Workbook, on October 24, 2017.
In 2016, Amoruso announced her focus on the formation of Girlboss, raising $3.1 million from Lightspeed Ventures, Gary Vaynerchuk, Brian Lee (Honest Co.), Slow Ventures, and others, to galvanize the 10-million-hashtag-strong brand into the cultural zeitgeist it has become. Today, Girlboss encompasses digital editorial and video content, digital community, a podcast network, conferences & events, and has worked with brands like Google, Pinterest, American Express, Loreal, Cadillac, and more. The bi-annual Girlboss Rally has hosted speakers ranging from Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Graham, Bozoma St. John, Beth Comstock, and more.
Bridget Baker
President & CEO, Baker Media Inc.
As Principal of the consultancy Baker Media, Inc., Ms. Baker advises and represents major media and technology companies. Prior to launching Baker Media, Ms. Baker had a distinguished 23-year career at NBCUNIVERSAL where she was a co-founder of CNBC and the company’s first president of TV Networks Distribution from 2006 – 2013.
She was instrumental in building and later overseeing a $5 billion content distribution business that firmly established some of the most highly rated and valuable network assets in history. Included among the company’s top 1% of senior executives as a member of the management committee, Ms. Baker was at the forefront of a wide range of strategic initiatives from expanding coverage of the Olympic Games to creating Hulu. She was tapped by parent company General Electric to develop the first-ever corporate Women’s Network affinity group in 2006, and in 2008 her division contributed the largest consolidated operating profit at the company. Ms. Baker played a key role in nearly $50 billion of acquisitions from 2002 – 2013 following Comcast’s integration of NBCU.
In 2013, Ms. Baker was the first and only woman named to the board of directors of GCI, Alaska’s largest communications company, which provides data, wireless, video, voice and managed services to consumer and business customers throughout Alaska and nationwide. GCI has delivered services for 40-years to some of the most remote communities and most challenging conditions in North America. In March 2018 GCI completed its $1.5 billion merger with Liberty Interactive to form GCI LIBERTY (Nasdaq: GLIBA). As director, Bridget served on the Special Committee of the Board for the year-long diligence process and was pivotal in creating the company’s first employee resource group for women.
Ms. Baker serves as a trustee of her alma mater, Pitzer College, where she received a BA in Political Studies and in 2010 was the “Distinguished Alumni Award” honoree. Ms. Baker was the only woman inducted in 2008 to the “Cable TV Pioneers Association” and in 2012, she was awarded NCTA’s “Vanguard Award for Distinguished Leadership,” considered the cable industry’s highest honor.
Having grown up in Alaska’s remote capitol city of Juneau, Ms. Baker began her career on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC as an aide to the late US Senator Ted Stevens.
In her position as head of the television department at Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal Laviolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman, Leigh Brecheen is recognized as one of the most prominent and influential lawyers within the entertainment industry.
A partner in the prestigious law firm since 1992, Leigh represents top writers, directors and actors as well as leading television production companies, talent management organizations and multimedia companies. Among her powerful clients are on camera talent such as John Oliver, Conan O’Brien, Jenny McCarthy, Rob Delaney (Catastrophe), Iliza Shlesinger (Last Comic Standing) and Charla Lauriston (Clench and Release). She also represents award-winning writers, directors and producers such as Plan B Television, Jon Cassar (24), Anne Kenney (Outlander), Martha Williamson (Touched by an Angel), Brent Friedman (Mortal Kombat II, Tomb Raider , Afterworld ), Rob Lieberman (Dead Zone), and Robert Lantos of Serendipity Point Films (Barney’s Version, Eastern Promises, Being Julia, The Statement, The Sweet Hereafter). In addition, she has handled cutting-edge deals for firm clients such as Jerry Bruckheimer Television, Davis Entertainment Television, Atmosphere Entertainment, Sean Daniels and Sid and Nancy Ganis.
Leigh began her California legal career serving five years at O’Melveny & Meyers. After a short stint out of private practice as VP of Business Affairs for NBC Entertainment, she joined Bloom, Hergott & Diemer as head of the television department.
Born and raised in Arizona, Leigh received her B.A. from Mills College and graduated Cum Laude from The Sandra O’Conner College of Law (ASU) where she served on the Law Review as a writer and topics editor. She is a member of the Arizona, New York and California State Bars and was recently profiled by Variety’s 2017 Dealmakers Impact Report. She has also been featured in the Los Angeles Business Journal in their “Who’s Who in L.A. Law” Special Report, in Elle Magazine’s “The Power List: The Mad Women, the Twighlighters, and Team Conan” and has repeatedly been elected as one of Southern California’s Super Lawyers by Los Angeles Magazine. She has also been chosen as a Who’s Who of American Women and a Who’s Who of American Lawyers and is currently on the board of the Hollywood Radio and Television Society. Leigh recently finished a 4 year term as the Chair of the Motion Picture, Television, Cable and Radio Division of the American Bar Association Forum on Entertainment and Sports and is an emeritus board member of the UCLA Entertainment Symposium which she also chaired for two years. A member of the Women in Film and Television, the Hollywood Radio and Television Society, she is a frequent lecturer and has authored various articles on television and related businesses. Leigh is active in civic and charitable causes.
Married and the mother of two children, Leigh is also an avid polo player.
Carmen Cabana
Director of Photography, Vida on Starz
Carmen Cabana is a cinematographer of Afro-Hispanic descent. Fresh off a director of photography seat on Starz’s new series Vida, her previous work includes Netflix’s show Narcos, in which she worked as the Second Unit director of photography on all ten episodes.
Cabana’s years of experience and ability to visually capture the emotions of any story has catapulted her towards the top choices for female cinematographers among filmmakers. She has shot over 22 features around the world, with many name talents and has had screenings featuring her work at many renowned festivals. Quickly to adapt and collaborate with locals, Cabana has filmed features in 14 US states, and also in Mexico, Cuba, and Colombia.
Cabana was recognized as one of American Cinematographer’s Rising Stars of Cinematography in February 2017, and was also listed in Variety’s 2016 Below the Line report “Up Next” as one of the most promising filmmakers.
Chika Chukudebelu
Vice President, Programming and Diversity, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group, Universal Cable Productions
Chika Chukudebelu is Vice President, Programming and Diversity for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group and Universal Cable Productions. Chukudebelu is responsible for driving diversity strategies across the business with a focus on growing the creative talent pool and bringing new creative voices to the portfolio.
Most recently, Chukudebelu was Director, Original Programming – Scripted at BET Networks, where she managed projects including Hit the Floor, Being Mary Jane and Rebel. She also oversaw the network’s Film Festival initiative, scouting talent and managing sponsorship activations at the Sundance Film Festival, Banff Media Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Urbanworld Film Festival, American Black Film Festival and Bronze Lens Film Festival.
Chukudebelu has also worked at Killer Films, Starbucks Entertainment and CAA. She is a graduate of The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania and is also a board member of HRTS Associates and the University of Pennsylvania’s James Brister Society.
Jennifer Collins
Video Business Development, IMDb
Jennifer Collins oversees the business development function for IMDb’s video licensing, development and syndication.
Carmen Cuba
Casting Director, Vida on Starz
Carmen Cuba is an Emmy Award®-winning casting director based in Los Angeles.
Cuba’s career began in 1999 with the controversial filmmaker Larry Clark on the films Bully, and Ken Park.
In 2004, she began a long-standing collaboration with Steven Soderbergh and has cast all of his films since then. Recently, her work with Ridley Scott has included The Martian, Alien: Covenant and All the Money in the World. Other recent feature collaborators include Sean Baker on The Florida Project and Andrew Haigh on Lean on Pete. She recently wrapped Bad Times at the El Royale, an original feature written and directed by Drew Goddard.
Her work expanded to television in 2012 with the HBO miniseries Behind the Candelabra, for which she won an Emmy Award® for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries/Movie. Other notable television projects include The Knick and The Girlfriend Experience for Soderbergh, Narcos for Jose Padilha, Sense8 for The Wachowskis and Stranger Things for the Duffer Brothers for which she recently won an Emmy Award® for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series. Highlights of 2017 included a George Saunders pilot for Amazon directed by Hiro Murai entitled Sea Oak, a half-hour Starz series by playwright Tanya Saracho entitled Vida and the Lena Waithe Showtime series entitled The Chi. She is currently working on a TNT mini-series being directed by Patty Jenkins entitled One Day She’ll Darken and on a BBC2 mini-series written and directed by Andrew Haigh entitled The North Water.
Cuba has been nominated for the Artios Award® for her work on Narcos, Looking, Behind the Candelabra, Stranger Things, Magic Mike, Logan Lucky and The Florida Project.
Cuba is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Television Academy, and the Casting Society of America.
Christina Davis
Partner, Maniac Productions (HRTS Board Member)
Christina Davis recently partnered with writer-producer Michael Seitzman under their new banner Maniac Productions. They have an overall deal at ABC Studios, developing content for all platforms: broadcast, streaming, cable and film. Their projects include Code Black, Quantico, Cleopatra & Staties, among other projects in development.
During her 20 years in drama development at CBS, she helped develop such successful series as the CSI and NCIS franchises, Bull, MacGyver, Blue Bloods, Hawaii Five-0, Madam Secretary, Scorpion, Criminal Minds, Elementary, The Mentalist and The Good Wife, among others.
Sarah Gubbins
Creator, I Love Dick
Sarah is the Co-Creator, Writer and Executive Producer of I Love Dick for Amazon. Her other full length plays include: COCKED, THE KID THING, THE DRINKING PROBLEM, FML: HOW CARSON MCCULLERS SAVED MY LIFE, IN LOCO PARENTIS, and FAIR USE.
She won a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Play 2012 for THE KID THING. She holds an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University. She is the co-writer of the feature 10 AKER WOOD with Jill Soloway which Soloway will also direct. She currently is a Co-Executive Producer on the FX television show BETTER THINGS.
Marisa Hammonds
Senior VP, Digital, Marketing & Research, Endemol Shine North America
Hammonds oversees the company’s digital & social media initiatives, as well as all marketing and research across Endemol Shine North America’s shows.
Hammonds originally joined Shine America in April 2011, and worked across the company’s digital content and social media strategy. In her current role, three distinct groups come together to grow and engage audiences with compelling content across multiple platforms. Hammonds and her teams also support Endemol Shine’s Brand & Licensing Partnerships, adding their expertise to live events and products spanning the company’s major franchises such as MasterChef (FOX) and MasterChef Junior (FOX), Fear Factor (MTV), Page Six TV (Syndication), MasterChef Latino (Telemundo), Best. Cover. Ever (YouTube) and upcoming revival of Deal or No Deal (CNBC).
Previously Hammonds served as Vice President, Digital & Social Media at Endemol Shine North America. In that role, Hammonds worked closely with network partners to develop and execute cross-promotional partnerships, digital content and social media activations for the company’s TV series. She has launched innovative partnerships with Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, Shazam, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Google Hangouts.
Prior to joining the company, Hammonds worked at a digital advertising startup. Before that, she worked as a consultant for one of the nation’s leading hospital revenue review consultancies based in San Francisco. Hammonds lives in LA and is a graduate of Stanford University.
Danae Kokenos
Sr. Manager, Content Acquisitions, Amazon Studios
Danae Kokenos oversees television content for Prime Instant Video in the Latin America. She previously led the content acquisition team for Prime Video in the US. Prior to joining Amazon, Danae was VP, Acquisitions for Lot 47 Films, an independent theatrical distributor in New York, and Director, Acquisitions for Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Jenn Levy
Unscripted Originals & Acquisitions, Netflix
Jenn Levy currently serves as a Director, Unscripted Originals and Acquisitions at Netflix. Having helped build the unscripted initiative there, she has been instrumental in the development and production of some of the streaming service’s most successful unscripted offerings so far, including Queer Eye, Nailed It and Girls, Incarcerated.
Jenn was previously at Bravo where she served as Senior Vice President, Current Production for Bravo Media. At Bravo she spearheaded production on some of the network’s biggest series including Shahs of Sunset and the Emmy-nominated Million Dollar Listing franchise while also overseeing the executives in charge of production on the Emmy-winning Top Chef, Flipping Out, and many others. Levy was also instrumental in developing the concept for many hit series including Vanderpump Rules, Below Deck, and Below Deck Mediterranean.
Prior to joining Bravo, Levy was Director, Development and Production at VH1 where she developed and produced several pilots and series including The Cho Show and What Perez Sez. She also founded a development think-tank where the series “Motormouth” was created.
Levy graduated from California State University Northridge with a BA in Cinema and Television Arts.
Laverne McKinnon
Producer and Certified Coach/Grief Recovery Specialist
Over a 20+ year career in entertainment, Laverne McKinnon has been inspired and motivated by the power of story. Her guiding passion is helping people craft their narratives in order to create intimacy and community, as well as to derive outer accomplishment from inner meaning.
Laverne is an Executive Producer of the Netflix comedy series Girlboss and is partnered with Kay Cannon (EP/Showrunner of Girlboss, writer of the Pitch Perfect franchise, director of the Universal film Blockers) in a film & television company. She has extensive experience in streaming, premium cable, and broadcast network production and development encompassing comedy, drama, animation and children’s programs.
As a certified life coach, executive coach and grief counselor, Laverne works with clients from entertainment and technology to master the art and power of transformation. Her approach is holistic, encouraging clients to see themselves as creative, resourceful and whole; it’s also cognitive, focusing on growth through purpose and values, on “being” as well as “doing.”
Laverne is an Adjunct Lecturer in Northwestern University’s Master of Science in Leadership for the Creative Enterprises program. Her class in Persuasion & Pitching combines her producing and coaching work to create a unique experiential format that transcends book-learning. Students learn to persuade and pitch from a place of deep self-awareness that connects their inner and outer worlds.
Most recently, Laverne was Head of Television for Charlize Theron’s production company, Denver & Delilah, where she sold 2 direct-to-series projects, and developed at Amazon, HBO, Showtime, FX, USA, NBC, Lifetime, Bravo and others.
Previously, Laverne was the founder and CEO of Shibui Entertainment, a production company specializing in provocative commercial content with a first-look producing deal at Warner Horizon Studios. Before Shibui, she partnered in television with Mike Newell, director of such critical & commercial successes as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Donnie Brasco, Mona Lisa Smile and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Laverne has also worked as an independent producer with Alicia Keys, skateboarding icon Tony Hawk, best-selling authors David Baldacci, Mary Roach, Karin Slaughter and other notable artists.
Laverne has consulted on media programming strategy and business development with a wide variety of companies, including ION Media Networks, Fullscreen and Comediva.com.
For a significant part of her early career, Laverne was a successful programming executive. As Executive Vice-President for Original Programming & Development at EPIX, she garnered the network’s first Emmy nomination while developing scripted drama and comedy projects with Oliver Stone, David Dobkin, Todd Field, John Singleton, Larry Charles, Jenji Kohan and Francis Ford Coppolla’s American Zoetrope. She also produced high-profile music events, comedy specials and documentaries for such artists as the Black Eyed Peas, Madonna, Britney Spears, Bon Jovi, Usher, Seth McFarlane, Eddie Izzard, Louis CK, Craig Ferguson, Kevin Smith and Lindsey Vonn.
Laverne began her broadcast network career under Les Moonves at CBS. Starting in its Children’s and Current Programming Departments, Laverne rose through the ranks over a decade to become Senior Vice-President of Drama Series Development, working on successful series including Without a Trace, Criminal Minds, The Unit, Cold Case, Numb3rs and the CSI franchise.
After graduating from Northwestern University’s School of Communication, Laverne established herself as an award-winning producer and writer at Gerald T. Rogers Productions in Chicago, a leading distributor of educational films. She then made the leap to Hollywood where she spearheaded development for the animation company Klasky-Csupo (Rugrats, Aahhh!!! Real Monsters).
Laverne has strong ties with the Northwestern University community. She serves on the School of Communication’s National Advisory Council, is a member of the Council of 100, mentors in their Creative Writing Modular Program, and is former President of the entertainment alumni organization. For her years of work, Northwestern recognized Laverne with its Alumni Service Award, of which she is particularly proud.
Laverne holds a Masters in Business Administration from Pepperdine University, is the former Co-Chairman of the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainnment (the longest running and most prestigious Asian American & Pacific Islander non-profit) and is a passionate advocate for adoption and foster programs.
Nancy Mejía
Staff Writer, Vida on Starz
Nancy C. Mejía is a director and writer born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her parents emigrated from El Salvador, making her first-generation Salvadoran-American. She graduated from UCLA and after years of working as a production assistant, Nancy became a high school art teacher.
However, she felt the pull to write and break into the industry, so she resigned her teaching position and pursued a filmmaking career. She was awarded the 2014 Latino Film Fund Seed Grant and 2015 Latino Screenwriting Project Fellowship, a lab organized with consulting support from the Sundance Institute. Her short film, Mateo, about a Latino teen’s fraught relationship with his abusive father, aired on El Rey Network in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month; her dramatic screenplay Jennifer’s Tigers, a coming-of-age story following a relationship between an African-American girl and a Caucasian girl in the American South in the mid-20th century, was selected as part of NALIP 2015 Diverse Women in Media Residency Lab and a 2014 quarterfinalist for the Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. Mejia is also a 2017-18 AFI Directing Workshop for Women Fellow. She endeavors to explore and share authentic portrayals of diverse, overlooked communities. Currently, Nancy is a staff writer on season one of Vida, a half-hour STARZ drama series.
Lucienne Papon
Executive Vice President, Creative Affairs, ITV Studios America
Lucienne Papon is Executive Vice President, Creative Affairs at ITV Studios America, where she oversees development and current programming in the U.S. market. She joined ITV Studios America in 2015 as Senior Vice President, Development, and was responsible for the continued growth of the studio’s extensive development slate across multiple cable and broadcast networks and OTT services, as well as execution of its current series.
Papon previously was Head of Development and Production for Martin Campbell Productions, where she launched the company’s television division based at ABC Studios, co-executive produced series Killer Women (ABC). She had previously worked at the company as their VP of Production and Development for film and television. Her film credits include Co-Producer on Edge of Darkness and Co-Producer on Green Lantern. For her work, Papon has been appointed an Exceptional Women Awardee (EWA) by the Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation (May 2018). She was the first recipient of the Producer’s Guild Debra Hill Fellowship (2005) and currently serves as an active member of the fellowship’s selection committee. Papon is a teacher for UCLA’s Department of Film, TV and Digital Media Summer Institute as well as an MFA thesis advisor. She graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Morehead-Cain Scholar and she holds an MFA from the Producer’s Program at UCLA’s School of Film, Television and Digital Media. Papon resides in Los Angeles, CA with her husband and their two boys.
Tamaya Petteway
Senior VP, Brand and Licensing Partnerships, Endemol Shine North America
Tamaya Petteway joined Endemol Shine North America in June 2015 as Senior Vice President of Brand and Integration, and is now the Senior Vice President of Brand and Licensing Partnerships.
Petteway is responsible for identifying and developing multi-platform brand partnership opportunities for Endemol Shine North America’s hit properties including MasterChef (FOX), MasterChef Junior (FOX), MasterChef Latino (Telemundo), Fear Factor (MTV), Page Six TV (Syndicated) and upcoming revival of Deal or No Deal (CNBC).
Prior to joining Endemol Shine North America, Petteway had served as Vice President, Partnership Marketing and Development at Universal Music Group since June 2014. Petteway identified new ways to create innovative partnerships between UMG and global brands, while building strategic programs and integrated marketing campaigns that leveraged UMG’s assets, iconic label groups and roster of artists.
Before joining Universal Music Group, Petteway spent eight years at CORE Media’s 19 Entertainment, including Vice President, Brand Partnerships. There she oversaw development, production and the execution of branded partnerships, marketing integrations and sponsorships across 19 Entertainment’s properties with a focus on top musical artists and leading TV shows including American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.
Petteway has developed unique content-based brand programs for partners including Kellogg’s, Marriott, Unilever, Sony, Johnson & Johnson, and PepsiCo, with one program recently winning a 2015 gold SABRE Award.
Petteway holds a Bachelors of Business Administration Degree in Marketing from Loyola Marymount University and currently resides in Los Angeles.
Chris Sanagustin
Director, International Originals, Netflix
An ump-teen year veteran of the television industry, Chris worked her way up from P.A. to script coordinator, to Hanna-Barbera costumed character (you may recognize her from her work as Yo, Yogi!, Top Cat or Droopy Dog) to writer, studio exec, network suit, director, and now some hybrid of all the above.
Currently Ms. Sanagustin serves as Director, International Originals at Netflix. Before joining the streamer Chris was EVP, Current Programming at Universal Television (UTV), where she built a reputation as a prolific idea-generator and creative collaborator and as a staunch advocate and creative partner to her showrunners and their series. She headed up the studio’s Current Programming department where she oversaw Bates Motel starring Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore, FOX’s Golden Globe winner, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, NBC’s Good Girls, Rise, Will & Grace, Superstore and The Good Place, Hulu’s flagship comedy The Mindy Project, and Netflix’s multi-Emmy-nominated comedies, Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt to name a few. Prior to UTV, Chris was SVP of Development & Current Programming for UNIVERSAL CABLE PRODUCTIONS (UCP) after a brief stint at the SCI FI CHANNEL. Before joining NBCU she was SVP, Current Programming at The WB Television Network.
Ms. Sanagustin made her directorial debut in 2008 with a short film she co-wrote, entitled Fleece. The film was produced as part of the prestigious American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women, and allowed Chris to synthesize the knowledge and experience she’s gained from her various roles in the business and as a parent. Digging in to the creative process on every level of Fleece gave Sanagustin a more intimate understanding of the challenges faced by the producers, writers, directors and crew members with whom she collaborates. The film also gave her a much-needed opportunity to apply her creative skills to her own material for a change.
A graduate of Johns Hopkins University and daughter of two physicians, Sanagustin chose to stray from the Asian stereotype and pursue a career in television instead of becoming a doctor. Chris resides in South Pasadena, CA with her wife, their son and their menagerie of pets. If this latest adventure in entertainment doesn’t pan out, she may finally reconsider med school.
Tanya Saracho
Creator/Showrunner/Executive Producer, Vida on Starz
Tanya Saracho is a playwright and television writer who serves as creator, showrunner, and executive producer of Vida on Starz, premiering May 6, 2018. She recently signed an overall deal with Starz, and is developing a new series, titled Brujas, with Big Beach.
Her television credits include How to Get Away with Murder, HBO’s Looking and Girls, and Devious Maids.
Named “Best New Playwright” by Chicago Magazine, Saracho has had plays produced at New York City’s Primary Stages and 2nd Stage, as well as Victory Gardens Theatre, The Denver Theatre Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Goodman Theater, Steppenwolf Theater, Teatro Vista, Teatro Luna, Fountain Theater, Clubbed Thumb, NEXT Theater and 16th Street Theater.
Saracho was named one of nine national Latino “Luminarios” by Café Magazine, and received the first “Revolucionario” Award in Theater by the National Museum of Mexican Art.
She is the founder of Teatro Luna (the first all-Latina Theatre Company in the nation, now defunct) as well as the founder of ALTA (Alliance of Latino Theatre Artists). She is currently in development with South Coast Repertory and Two River Theatre.
Saracho was born in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, México, and raised along the Texas border, spending the better part of her adult life in Chicago.
Robin Schwartz
Head of TV, Big Beach (HRTS Board Member)
Robin Schwartz is the head of the newly-formed Television division at Big Beach, a leading independent film studio. Currently producing two series, Vida for Starz with creator/showrunner Tanya Saracho, andSorry for your Loss for Facebook with creator Kit Steinkellner, showrunner Lizzy Weiss, director James Ponsoldt and producer/star Elizabeth Olsen, Big Beach TV is bringing the company’s unique brand of humanistic storytelling to television.
Robin started her career at NBC in the era of Must-See TV, where she was a part of the team that developed Will and Grace and E.R. She left NBC to write television, staffing on shows and developing both comedy and drama in a quest to better understand the anatomy of making a television show. She returned to development as President of Regency Television, a boutique studio, where she produced innovative programming such as Malcolm in the Middle, Bernie Mac, Wonderfalls and Thief. After Regency, Robin oversaw the staff and operations of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network as its founding President. In her off time, Robin works with the Alliance of Children’s Rights, Girls Inc, and sits on the board of the HRTS. Robin lives in Los Angeles with her husband, son, daughter and Lego-eating puppy Beatrix.
Chris Selak
EVP & Head of Worldwide Scripted Television
As Executive Vice President and Head of Worldwide Scripted Television, Chris Selak oversees creative development and programming for all Lionsgate scripted television projects and is part of the Lionsgate Television Group leadership team.
Ms. Selak has built on Lionsgate’s legacy series like Mad Men (AMC), Nurse Jackie (Showtime) and Weeds (Showtime) with ground-breaking shows like Orange is the New Black (Netflix), Nashville (CMT/Hulu), The Royals (E!), Step Up: High Water (YouTube Red) and Dear White People (Netflix). She continues to expand scripted programming with upcoming shows like The Rook (Starz) and Kingkiller Chronicle (Showtime).
Ms. Selak spearheads the Lionsgate Television Group’s collaboration with Lionsgate UK television business, led by UK CEO Zygi Kamasa and UK Television Creative Director Steve November.
Before joining Lionsgate in 2011, Ms. Selak served as SVP at John Wells Productions, where she worked on shows including ER, The West Wing, Shameless, and Southland. Prior to that, Ms. Selak was VP at Mandalay Television, a Peter Guber Company, serving as a producer on the Showtime series Rude Awakening. She also oversaw the development and production of the ABC series Cupid and The WB’s Young Americans.
Anne Vasquez
Senior VP of Strategic Initiatives, tronc
Anne Vasquez is a media executive navigating the intersection of digital audience, stellar storytelling and revenue growth. She is Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives of Tronc, Inc., formerly Tribune Publishing, which includes among its titles the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News and the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
She works across Editorial, Product, Marketing and Advertising divisions to develop digital strategy across 10 markets. Through her leadership and vision, she has reimagined storytelling, fueled 500% annual growth in video audience and more than doubled video revenue. During that time, two newsrooms won their first Emmy Awards for excellence in video storytelling.
A seasoned journalist, Anne was managing editor of the Sun Sentinel overseeing content on all platforms when the newsroom won its first Pulitzer Prize, the 2013 Gold Medal for Public Service. During her tenure, she orchestrated sweeping culture change to reinvent the newsroom for the 21st Century. Media executives across the globe continue to seek her counsel on newsroom change management.
Born and raised in Miami to Cuban immigrants, Anne began her career as a reporter at The Miami Herald and the San Jose Mercury News. She is a board member of the American Society of News Editors and serves on the leadership council of the Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication. Anne has been a passionate champion of diversity and inclusion in media, early in her career as the editor of one of the country’s first race and demographic teams and later as an executive. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.
Shea Vaughn
Creator/CEO SheaNetics® & Co-Founder/CEO Women On TV (WBTVN)
Shea Vaughn is a lifestyle pioneer, best-selling author, philanthropist and nationally recognized health and wellness authority whose SheaNetics® Wellness Program is endorsed by Physicians, the City of Chicago and the Department of Public Health, as well as earned her the affectionate title of “America’s Queen of Wellness”.
Shea is also the Co-Founder/CEO of WBTVN and Women On TV, the first OTT online TV network with original content created for women with an audience outreach of over 30 million and growing through, ROKU, AppleTV, Google Play, Amazon Fire, Chromecast and more.
JoAnne Yarrow
Editor, Vida on Starz
JoAnne Yarrow studied Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin, and upon graduation moved to Los Angeles and began working in editorial for both feature films and Television. As an assistant she worked on blockbuster movies such as National Treasure: Book of Secrets, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
During this time, she worked with some of the industries most accomplished editors, including Academy award winner Conrad Buff, as well as Academy award nominees Sandra Adair and Hank Corwin. Acclaimed writer and showrunner, John Ridley, gave JoAnne her big break as an editor on the Emmy award winning American Crime (ABC). Since American Crime, she has had the privilege of working for other acclaimed shows such as Queen Sugar (OWN), Claws (TNT), and is currently on Vida for Starz.
Sharon Tal Yguado
Head of Genre Original Series, Amazon Studios
Sharon Tal Yguado is the Head of Genre Original Series at Amazon Studios. She joined Amazon in February 2017. In this role, Sharon oversees the development and production of big scope, hour-long science fiction, action, fantasy and horror series. She’s brought in and is spearheading high profile projects including The Lord of the Rings, The Phripheral (Jonah Nolen and Lisa Joy), The Culture (Dennis Kelly) and Ancilary Justice (Justin Double).
Previously, Sharon served as the Head of Fox International Studios and EVP of Global Programming at Fox Networks Group (FNG), where she oversaw FNG’s original global scripted strategy. Sharon lead the acquisition, development and production on a number of global scripted TV franchises including The Walking Dead (AMC), Wayward Pines (FBC), Outcast (Cinemax) and Legion (FX).
Sharon has a Master’s Degree in Media from New York University and a Bachelor degree in Psychology from Tel Aviv University in Israel.
Felicia Yue
Sr. Manager, Product Management, Amazon Prime Video
Felicia Yue has spent most of her career working in TV sports and live news, developing products like the Emmy-winning 1st & Ten line (a.k.a. “the yellow line”) for NFL fans. Along the way, she got her MBA from Columbia Business School, scrubbed penguin guano at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and worked as a ranch hand on a humane pig farm in the Bay Area (will work for bacon).
In her current role at Amazon, Felicia is focused on changing the future of TV by enabling customers to get all their favorite content simply using their Amazon account.
Sophia Amoruso
Carmen Cabana
Chika Chukudebelu
Carmen Cuba
Sarah Gubbins
Sarah Gubbins
Nancy Mejía
Tanya Saracho
Shea Vaughn
JoAnne Yarrow
Sharon Tal Yguado